Attention Pacific Northwest geeks! If you missed out on Emerald City Comicon or just can’t get enough then get ready to head north on April 20th and 21st for Fan Expo Vancouver! This is the second major comicon for the beautiful British Columbia city where many sci-fi films are shows are filmed. Since my Comicon for Virgins helped some first time Seattle fans enjoy Emerald City Comicon here’s an updated version that might inspire you to head north!
Michael Rooker (Merle Dixon of The Walking Dead) will join the cast of celebrities at Fan Expo Vancouver. Rooker has appeared in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Slither and video games like and Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Rooker will be on hand to meet Vancouver fans on both Saturday and Sunday.
Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead) has had to cancel his appearance due to a conflict with the premiere of a new film at Tribeca Film Fest but he thanks his ‘big brother Merle’ for stepping in.
Fan Expo Vancouver is April 20-21, 2013. Rooker joins the stellar roster of stars including Stan Lee, Nichelle Nichols, Sean Astin, Michael Hogan and cast members of Continuum.
By Editor
(Op/Ed: I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Rooker at Emerald City Comicon and he was amazing to his fans!)
Peter Parker meets Miles Morales June 13th in Spider-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli! Marvel.com revealed this issue 4 variant by Mike Deodato.
You know a new character is making an impact when you see a fan dressed up like him/her at a con! Take a look at this Miles Morales Spider-Man I met at Fan Expo Vancouver! By Editor
3 artists. 1 hour. A room packed with fans – 3 lucky ones would leave with a sketch. We all left with great stories in a unique non-panel panel experience. This was one of my favorite part of Fan Expo Vancouver this past weekend.
Mike Choi, Stephen Sadowski and Georges Jeanty were pitted in this friendly competition. While they created art, fans asked questions, laughed at the name-dropping (I’m talking to you Mr. “Joss Whedon called me up “Jeanty) and the wisecracks (Mr. “Well Nathan Fillion called me” Mike Choi with the quick wit comebacks.)
When asked about their favorite heroes: Stephen Sadowski revealed Nightwing. Sadowski is usually sporting a Nighwing logo t-shirt at most cons and he was showing his Nightwing pride here. He reflected that seeing Burt Ward at Fan Expo reminded him of why he loved Robin. Dick Grayson didn’t have powers. He just wanted to be a hero. He said his favorite work was on JSA with Geoff Johns.
Georges Jeanty named the Thing as his favorite hero and references the classic Marvel Two-in-One series in which Ben Grimm was paired up with a different hero each issue.- Jeanty also named Tigra and couldn’t believe he saw a fangirl dressed as the Avenger at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle. I remember seeing her too – great body paint work!
What were the weirdest fan requests? Sadowski said there’s a guy who goes around collecting sketches of superheroes eating pie. After many close encounters, Sadowski said he finally gave in and did the hero/pie sketch. I asked from the audience “who was the hero eating the pie?”
“Wildcat,” he responded. I can see that, he’s a boxer, needs the carbs.
Jeanty revealed his biggest fan request was a commission of Buffy kissing Willow. He produced a rated G version of the Slayer kissing the witch on the cheek – much to the disappointment of the guy who expecting a racier kiss.
The results – Choi produced a beautiful Emma Frost sketch. The White Queen in the audience didn’t win.
Jeanty revealed an adorable but empowering Buffy, the Vampire Slayer sporting a Supergirl uniform.
Stephen Sadowski showed that Aquaman is awesome – and a fangirl dressed as Mystique walked away with! By Editor
Fan Expo Vancouver brought top comic book creators to meet fans at their first major con! I was thrilled to meet, interview and share a moment with some of the best in the business! Stay tuned for extended interviews.
Thanks again for all the amazing fans who showed off their geek love at Fan Expo Vancouver!
Vancouver celebrated their first major comicon! Fan Expo Vancouver wecomed thousands of comic book, anime, sci fi and videogame super fans! Here are some of the fun costumed fans I captured:
This Seattle Geek headed north for Fan Expo Vancouver, the city’s first major comicon. Thousands of fans celebrated the days of comics, sci-fi, stars and costumes. Vancouver’s Convention Center on the waterfront with snow capped mountain backdrop would have been a perfect location for a Thor sequel. Plenty of Thunder Gods were on site for the fun.
Adam West and Burt Ward (TV’s Batman & Robin) inspired the biggest lines for autographs and photos. I met Ward at a Chevy dealership event in my hometown when I was a little kid. The original Batmobile was in the center of the showroom floor like a geek beacon – a bat signal seducing fans to come grab a photo opportunity!
Kevin (Hercules) Sorbo, Lou (The Incredible Hulk) Ferrigno, Marina Sirtus and Michael Dorn of Star Trek: The Next Generation were draws huge draws. Eager geeks waited patiently for their moment to approach their favorite, gush and come away with an autograph. Sirtis and Dorn will join the rest of cast in Fan Expo Calgary this weekend. It will be the first time the entire main cast has reunited in 25 years.
I love True Blood. I couldn’t resist a chance to chat with Kristin Bauer who plays the vampire Pam on the hit HBO series. We talked about the upcoming season, return of Russell Edgington, vampire politics and she teased that the show will reveal more of her character’s back story with Eric (Alexander Skarsgard.)
One on one contact with your favorite comic book writer or artist is my favorite element of the con experience. It’s your chance to talk about your favorite heroes, villains and hear great stories. I went right to Mike Choi to have several Uncanny X-Men and X-23 issues autographed. I was his first fan sketch of the con! I asked for Black Bolt of the Inhumans. The Marvel Comics hero is famous for his super powered voice that can shatter cities so he can never speak in general conversation so it’s appropriate that Mike wrote “Shh…” as part of his signature!
I remember Tony Daniel’s art on X-Force in the 1990’s. Today he’s writing Batman in Detective Comics. This was a rare con appearance. I interviewed Tony about his experience writing Batman’s rogues gallery and his creation of popular new villains. In the sketch duels, Tony revealed how the rock band KISS was a big inspiration and led to his first commission. An elementary school kid had him draw KISS in exchange for trading cards!
What do you say to a legend? Len Wein created Wolverine – that alone makes him a Titan among the geeks. Wein edited the original Watchmen series and now he’s writing one of the Before Watchmen prequels. The legend told me the best rule to follow as an editor is the hire good creators and stay out of their way.
Sketch duels were my favorite part of this con. 3 artists had 1 hour to create a sketch to be raffled off to a lucky fan. The creators sketched while answering our questions and sharing great stories about their inspirations and careers. As the final sketches were revealed, the geek cheers grew louder and louder. A fangirl dressed as Mystique won Stephen Sadowski’s Aquaman sketch.
I joined the crowd cheering for Kevin Sorbo of Hercules and Andromeda. Sorbo shared lots of fun stories of filming the adventure series back in New Zealand. With a fan forum like this the comments and questions went from mild to wild. A former production assistant on the Vancouver based Andromeda thanked him for being such a great star on the series. One guy had to ask, “how many times did you get laid because you were Hercules?” The star took it all in stride with the same humor and charm that made him a great Herc.
The geek shall inherit the Earth. This weekend they owned a little part of Vancouver thanks to the stars of our favorite genre shows and the comic book writers and artists that help us relive our childhood. By Editor